2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the
Association of Photographers’ (AOP) Student Awards on show at Free Range, the graduate showcase of creative arts at London’s Truman Brewery from 11 - 13 July 2025. This year’s core themes reflect a strong sense of the surreal with provocative and playful subject matter displayed in the submitted images. The Awards reflects the AOP’s continuing commitment to shining a light on the next generation of photographers and image makers.
These annual awards present an array of diverse and vibrant talent from students across the UK, representing 28 different UK photography courses from HND to MA level. This year, its 40th, sees 51 finalists divided across three categories - People; Places; Things - of which there are gold and silver recipients with one overall winner. The Best in Show overall winner, Ritchie Elder (BA (Hons) Professional Photography, Kingston University (taught at Edinburgh College) receives a £2500 Fujifilm UK kit prize and a one year Capture One Studio subscription for his image, Alaa, a member of the Muslim Women's Association of Edinburgh, from his series Faith, a documentary project examining the diversity of religious experience across Edinburgh through environmental portraiture and documentary photography. All entries are selected blind by individual category judges, with the full judging panel coming together to select Best In Show. Overall Ritchie Elder received an impressive total of 5 finalist nominations. All of the gold and silver winners receive a complimentary one-year subscription to Capture One ‘All in One’ and a tailored AOP membership package to support the start of their professional careers. Additionally, Elinchrom will support one of the award winners by providing exclusive access to a full professional lighting setup for a day at Fujifilm’s House of Photography. This experience will be documented as part of a collaborative content series with AOP, celebrating emerging talent and showcasing their work across both platforms.
Alaa from the series Faith, 2025 © Ritchie Elder. Courtesy The AOP
- Ritchie Elder, BA (Hons) Professional Photography, Kingston University (taught at Edinburgh College)
People Category (16 finalists) - This category covers any form of people-photography from portraiture to street photography, photojournalism and beyond. The People category is an opportunity to make visual comments about the human race and its ways. In previous ‘portrait’ categories, animal pictures have been featured but the originators of this category feel that entries this year should feature the human race.
Gold - Ritchie Elder (BA (Hons) Professional Photography, Kingston University (taught at Edinburgh College)
Silver - Flavia Lotempio (HND 2, Edinburgh College)
Places Category (18 finalists) - Rather than duplicate possible locations such as landscapes and architecture, The AOP offers this category which provides unlimited opportunities.
Gold - John-Martin Bramham (BA Hons Photography, City Of Glasgow College)
Silver - Emrys Thurgood (BA Photography, University of the West of England)
Things Category (17 finalists) - This category covers almost everything else. Think Irving Penn’s found objects, Mapplethorpe’s flowers, Ori Gersht’s explosions, cats, dogs, bats and monkeys by Tim Flach, and sublime still-lifes by Richard Maxted and then make something unique and sensational.
Gold - Ewelina Rhys (HND Photography, Edinburgh College)
Silver - Anna Krypska (BA Photography, London Metropolitan University)
Bronze - Tom Percival Stein (MA Photography, Arts University Bournemouth)
Emrys Thurgood, Cool To The Touch, from the series The Stars That Forgot the Sky, 2025 © Emrys Thurgood
The judges for the AOP 2025 Student Awards are People - Alun Callender, award winning AOP accredited photographer; Places - Nick Meek, award winning AOP accredited photographer; and Things - Louise Turner, photographic agent for Flock.
Alun Callender, and judge of the People category as well as Best in Show, remarked,
“Encountering a diverse mix of image making, it was a privilege to be allowed to have this overview of contemporary student photography, and to be able to view what matters to this generation. I was looking for images that would move and inspire me as a photographer, and would stand up to the quality that being a member of the AoP demands. Although technical excellence was an important aspect of my judging criteria, I was also looking to find the photography that moved me and elevated the image to something unique and exceptional.
My gold selection and the Best in Show winner excelled in everything I was looking for, they both worked on all levels in lighting, composition, creating beautiful images in which you could connect with the subject and their story. Congratulations to all the finalists in this year’s awards, I wish them luck in their careers moving forward, it’s never been easy out there but with a bit of talent and a lot of determination I hope you’ll succeed.”
Entry to the AOP Student Awards 2025 is open to all students (including those from overseas) studying photography in the UK at FE level or higher. The AOP Student Awards were established in the early 1980s, to recognise and highlight emerging photographic talent which existed in further education institutions across the UK. Many of the AOP Student Awards winners go on to become discovery winners as assisting photographers and then as professional photographers for the AOP Photography Awards, as the organisation prides itself on nurturing talented photographers throughout their career.
As Isabelle Doran, CEO of The AOP, explains,
“It’s such a genuine pleasure to see the array of visual works created by photography students each year. Seeing the world around them, with their fresh and undiluted perspectives, always provides a joyful and inquisitive experience, and likewise looking at which images our industry judges have selected as a shortlist brings welcome surprises. This year, celebrating 40 years of hosting our AOP Student Awards, is decidedly no different, as we showcase an exceptional lineup for student finalists’ work for 2025.”
Theo Georghiades, General Manager Fujifilm UK, says of Fujifilm’s partnership with the AOP’s Student Awards,
“At FUJIFILM, we believe in empowering photographers to share their unique perspectives with the world, and are proud to support the next generation of photographers through our association with the AOP's student awards. Our mission is to celebrate and support those who are brave enough to share life as they see it, and we look forward to seeing the incredible talent that emerges from this competition. The winning image is a testament to the power of photography to bring us closer to understanding the people and the communities around us, and we are delighted to offer a prize that reflects our commitment to excellence in imaging solutions.
Best in Show plus Gold and Silver winners, along with selected finalists, will have the chance to be showcased and appear in the official 40th AOP Photography Awards Book which is published in time for the AOP Awards Showcase on 9 October 2025.
Flavia Lotempio, Wired But Tired, 2025 © Flavia Lotempio. Courtesy The AOP
The Association of Photographers was first formed in 1968 as the Association of Fashion and Advertising Photographers and is one of the most prestigious professional photographers' associations in the world. The Association's aims are to protect, promote and inspire the worth and standing of its members within the commercial photographic industry.
Its mission is to be the guiding force for professional photographers, and image-makers, on matters relating to business practice in still and moving images, whether from a practical, educational or legal basis. The Association brings professionals together and provides a sense of community that is simply unavailable anywhere else. It promotes the highest levels of achievement, and campaigns for its members' interests at all levels.
